The desire to have hair retain a particular shape or configuration is one shared by many people, men and women alike. Approaches taken can either involve permanent or temporary alteration of the hair. The former involves the use of chemical agents to react with the hair in order to achieve the desired effect. This process can be carried out at either room temperature or elevated temperature.
The temporary set given to hair is, as the term indicates, a temporary arrangement which can later be removed by water or by shampooing. The materials used to provide the set have generally been resins or gums. The temporary set compositions have taken the form of gels, lotions, and sprays, and, in more recent years, the form of an aerosol foam (i.e., a styling mousse). The compositions are most often applied to hair dampened with water; then combed or spread throughout the hair by other means; followed by letting the hair dry or blow drying the hair.
The set given will vary depending on the materials used. Temporary set hair styling products typically utilize adhesive polymers which are ethanol or water-soluble rigid polymers having glass transition temperatures well above the temperatures experienced in styling hair. Examples of such high glass transition temperature adhesive polymers are found in Viout and Papantoniou U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,715 issued July 3, 1973; Chakrabarti U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,367, issued Aug. 21, 1979; and Chakrabarti U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,009, issued Sept. 16, 1980; the disclosures of all these patents being incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These adhesive polymers are typically applied to the hair in an ethanol or water solvent, and then set to form rigid welds between hair fibers when the solvent evaporates as the hair dries. These hair fiber welds form the basis for the style hold ability of conventional hair styling products. When these welds are broken, they remain broken unless the appropriate polymer solvent is added to redissolve the adhesive and reform the welds when the hair dries.
In addition, many polymers said to be useful in hair styling products are multi-component polymers which combine three, four, and even more monomers into the polymer chains. Frequently, one of the monomer components is vinyl pyrrolidone. Examples of such complex polymer systems are found in Grosser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,329, et al., issued Dec. 7, 1965; Kubot et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,517issued May 4, 1971; Farber U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,501 , issued Mar. 15, 1977; Papantoniou and Mondet U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,511, issued June 9, 1981; the disclosures of all these patents being incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Other polymers said to be useful for hair styling compositions have been disclosed, such as block polymers. These block polymers have two or more glass transition temperatures. Examples of such block polymer systems are found in Calvert et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,984, issued Sept. 23, 1975; Papantonious et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,512, issued June 21, 1977; and Jacquet et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,384, issued Aug. 11, 1981; the disclosures of all these patents being incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Notwithstanding the great effort already put forth to identify these adhesive polymers for use in temporary set hair styling products, there remains a continuing need to identify new agents which are useful to provide temporary set and other desirable properties to hair. The styling agents of the present invention contain copolymers of two or more monomer components randomly distributed in the copolymer chain along with a volatile diluent. These copolymers have a single glass transition temperature within the temperature range at which hair styling products are typically utilized (i.e., about 0.degree. C. to about 150.degree. C.) and have several properties which make them superior to previously disclosed hair styling polymers for application to hair.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide styling agents useful for providing temporary set style hold to hair while remaining pliable on the hair. A further object is to provide styling agents which lengthen the time such temporary set style hold is perceived to be acceptable. A further object is to provide styling agents which provide good temporary set hair style retention while allowing the perception of continued naturalness such as good hair movement and good hair feel. A further object is to provide styling agents which do not make hair feel stiff or sticky. A further object of the present invention is to provide styling agents which give body and/or fullness to hair, and/or which give the ability to provide lift to hair, and/or which increase hair volume. Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide superior rinse-off hair styling compositions comprising the styling agents of the present invention; and to provide an improved method for styling hair by utilizing a hair styling composition of the present invention.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows.
All percentages and ratios used herein are by weight unless otherwise specified.